Just as he called, Natalie was leaving Matthew''s house. She spotted the paparazzi lurking nearby and felt a surge of irritation. She hated having her life scrutinized, but these people had nothing better to do. This was Jared''s handiwork, no doubt his way of getting revenge for Joanna.


    Jared doted on Joanna, ready to give her the world. In her past life, Natalie would have been consumed by jealousy. In this one, she was just waiting for him to die. Jared, overconfident in his schemes, would eventually meet his end at sea, drowned by his obsession with a woman who was his very own siren song-a woman ced in his path by Joanna. Natalie thought of the kind-hearted Susan White and sighed. Why was it always the good people who got hurt?


    Although the timeline had shifted, some things were inevitable. Joanna''s machinations were still in motion.


    Natalie decided to take the long way home to avoid the cameras. Matthew offered to drive her, but she refused. She couldn''t drag him into her mess. His bodyguards stepped in, blocking the photographers and allowing her to slip away.


    A few stepster, her phone rang. It was an unknown number. She almost ignored it, assuming it was another person she''d blocked, but the ringing was persistent.


    "Hello?"


    "Natalie, where are you?"


    She was surprised to hear Sebastian''s voice. He had called her only a handful of times over the years; it had always been her calling him.


    "What does it matter to you where I am? I thought we agreed not to contact each other unless it was about the divorce."


    There was a moment of silence on his end before he said, “Stay away from Matthew."


    His voice was thick with an emotion she couldn''t ce, not that she cared to try anymore.


    "Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?" she retorted.


    "Sebastian, you''re pathetic. You can''t have your cake and eat it too. You have no shame How much time could it passibly take to go to the courthouse and sign a piece of paper?"


    She truly didn''t understand why he was dragging his feet. At this point, she was considering asking her grandfather to hire some bodyguards to physically drag him there.


    "Natalie, you are still my wife,"


    Sebastian said, his tone heavy with something she couldn''t decipher. But she was done trying to read his moods In the past his slightest frown would send her into a panic wondering what she''d done wrong. Living on eggshells like that had been suffocating.


    She let out a short, bitterugh. "Ha! Mr. Griffith, have you lost your mind? You were the one who threw the divorce papers in my face in public, and now you''re the one who won''t let me go."


    “Sebastian, let''s just end this. Anything more is just disrespectful."


    "I didn''t cry, I didn''t make a scene. I stepped aside for you and Joanna. The least you can do is show me some decency."


    "I''ll say it onest time: any work-rted matters go through my assistant. If it''s not about the divorce, don''t ever call me again."


    With that, Natalie hung up and blocked his number. Again.


    When Sebastian tried to call back, he was met with a dead line. He stood in the dimly lit hallway, his expression dark and unreadable.


    He re-entered the private room and looked at Sean. "Find out who''s behind this trending topic."


    Sean, who had already seen it, didn''t need to investigate. "It was Jared he said quietly. "He owns an entertainmentpany that''s been


    doing welftely I think he got back


    in the country a couple of days ago."


    Sebastian''s brow furrowed. "Is Jared an idiot? He''s paying paparazzi to nder his own sister?"